An amateur English soccer team in the early 20th century. England exported the game to the European continent, which adopted and adapted its English name, football. Photo: Tony Henshaw

Opinion

Opinion

Language Matters by Lisa Lim

The global language of soccer: how English gave the world football, and it gave back rabona and joga bonito

Soccer in its modern form spread from England, and with it a lexicon derived from English. But as the game spread globally, so did new terms, such as rabona and joga bonito, that English has in turn absorbed